PowerUP! Competition: Business Plan Elements & Judging

Business Plan Outline and Judging Criteria

For the purposes of the PowerUP! Competition, your business plan should follow the outline provided by the competition.

The outline will be reviewed in the Business Plan Class. The sections on market research and analysis, as well as your marketing strategy, will be covered in the Marketing Plan Class, the financials will be covered by the Financial Projections Class and the other sections will be covered by the Business Plan Basics Class.

The Start Up Costs Template and the Cash Flow Spreadsheet will be introduced in the Financial Projections class.

The judges assign a score to each of the nine sections, plus award points for the overall quality of the plan. The judges are looking for a plan that does an excellent job meeting the following criteria:

A convincing plan that is extremely well researched and written

A plan that is thorough and addresses the elements listed in the Business Plan Outline as applicable to the particular business

A plan that describes a business that is viable in every way and likely to succeed

Additional consideration is given to the following:

1. A clear need and use for the $15,000 award - plans should explain the impact of the award.

2. The positive impact the business will have on the community - the role your business will play in providing needed products or services, jobs, ecological alternatives, neighborhood revitalization, assistance to the underserved, stimulus to the local economy, etc.